Charleston Gazette

House Oks Business Tax-Cut Bill: ; Sends to Senate

tomsearls@wvgazette.com West Virginia business taxes gradually will come down under legislation endorsed by the House of Delegates and sent to the Senate on Friday.

Teachers' Pension Bill Undecided: ; Legislative Term Ends Today; the Capitol Report; 2008 Legislature

More reports on the W.Va. Legislature's '08 session philk@wvgazette.com

Hurricane Wal-Mart Opens: ; Grand Opening Celebrated in Grand Style

alisonk@wvgazette.com HURRICANE - "W-A-L-M-A-R-T!" chanted the Hurricane High School cheerleaders. "What's that spell?"

Note to Readers

Feds: The Check's Almost in the Mail: ; Rebate Notices Cost Us $42m

More jobs disappearing, 6A WASHINGTON - At a cost of nearly $42 million, the IRS wants you to know: Your check is almost in the mail.

Bulletin Board

FUTURE EVENTS Kanawha Trail Club Hike will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Wine Cellar Park, Dunbar. The hike is about 4 miles with moderate hills, possible short steep areas and expect a muddy pathway. A shorter version, about 1 1/2 to 2 miles, is available on the first part that is flat with a creek crossing and you can turn back at any time.

Vent Line

* In response to the envious person who complained in Vent line: I love being retired. I love sleeping in late, getting up, getting my newspaper and going to a fast-food restaurant, spreading out my paper on the table and working the crossword puzzle while I enjoy my discount senior-citizens coffee for hours on end. * I get tired of hearing all these people yelling about the unions. I worked for the railroads for 34 years and had to fight them. Byrd and Rockefeller sold out the unions in West...

Readers' Voice

* I want to thank the American Legion for taking all the old unserviceable old flags and properly disposing of them. * I see where the Gazette was having Arianna Huffington come to Charleston and I can't think of a more hateful, narrow-minded idiot to bring in. I have been a subscriber for 15 years to the Gazette and I will be canceling it because of this.

Things to Do Today

Music * GOSPEL SING: 6 p.m. Admission by donation. Featuring Gospel Pioneers and Jay Humphries Trio. Hansford Senior Center, 500 Washington St., St. Albans. Call 722-4621.

Ballet Brings Fairy Tales to Life: ; Review

Dance is a language of gesture, sometimes depicting whole stories, and at other times a single emotion. On Friday night at the Civic Center Little Theater, the Charleston Ballet showed an amazing ability to communicate through the language of dance, as they shared stories of fairy-tale celebrations, poetic loneliness, strange dreams, and the simple joy of playing games. The first half of the show included three very different pieces. First, favorite fairy tale characters gathered in a royal c...

State Briefs

Byrd remains in hospital after suffering setback Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., remains in Walter Reed Army Medical Center, after being re-admitted earlier this week to monitor medication he is taking for a urinary tract infection.

Conn. Boy Angled to Succeed Rodriguez As Coach

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. - He's only 12, he doesn't have a car and he lives nearly 500 miles from campus. But Joshua Irizarry's heartfelt plea and willingness to work around obstacles got him a brief consideration for the gig as head football coach at West Virginia University. Insisting it was "a completely serious offer," the Connecticut boy outlined his skills in a letter to WVU President Mike Garrison when the job opened up in December. They included "making up new plays to fool defenses in loca...

Putnam Jury Returns 19 Indictments

A Putnam County grand jury returned 19 indictments on Wednesday alleging 24 people committed 71 felonies and six misdemeanors, according to a news release from Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia's office. The grand jury charges people via indictments when it believes there is enough evidence of a crime to merit a jury trial. The charges are not findings of guilt

Judge Holds Reporter in Contempt Over Sources

WASHINGTON - A federal judge held a former USA Today reporter in contempt of court Friday and ordered her to pay up to $5,000 a day if she refuses to identify her sources for stories about a former Army scientist under scrutiny in the 2001 anthrax attacks. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said Toni Locy must pay fines out of her own pocket as long as she continues to defy his order that she cooperate in scientist Steven J. Hatfill's lawsuit against the government.

Ethics Complaint May Be Dismissed

rustymarks@wvgazette.com Officials for the state Ethics Commission expect to dismiss a double-dipping complaint filed against Nitro Police Chief Jack Jordan.

'Our Economy has Slowed'

WASHINGTON - Dangerous cracks in the nation's job market are deepening. Employers slashed jobs by the largest amount in five years - and hundreds of thousands of people dropped out of the labor force - an ominous sign that the country is falling toward a recession or has already toppled into one. For the second straight month, nervous employers got rid of jobs nationwide. In February, they sliced payrolls by 63,000, even deeper than the 22,000 positions cut in January, the Labor Department re...

Esmark to Sell Interest in Plant: ; in Follansbee

Steel supplier Esmark Inc. said Friday it will sell its minority interest in Wheeling-Nisshin Inc., a small steel-coating company in Follansbee, for $71.4 million. An agreement has been reached with Japan's Nisshin Holding Inc., which already owns 64.3 percent of the business, said Esmark Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Bouchard.

U.S. Education Chief Visits West Virginia

Teachers might be frustrated and some schools aren't living up to national standards, but the country's top education official says public education is better off because of No Child Left Behind. U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings visited St. Albans High School on Friday and stopped at the state Capitol to talk with teachers, administrators, labor union officials and business representatives.

Couple, Man's Mother Plead Guilty in Armored Car Company Heist

AKRON, Ohio - A man, his girlfriend and his mother pleaded guilty Friday in the theft of about $8.4 million from an armored car company where he worked near Youngstown. Roger Dillon, 23, of Youngstown, and his girlfriend, Nicole Boyd, 25, also of Youngstown, admitted in January to stealing the money to escape financial hardship and make a better life.

Waitresses Allege Sexual Harassment: ; Famous Dave's Supervisor Accused of Groping, Exposing Hmself to Employees

aclevenger@wvgazette.com Four Famous Dave's restaurant waitresses have filed sexual harassment lawsuits against their supervisor, who faced similar allegations when he worked as a manager at Outback Steakhouse several years ago.